Context

• Despite policy measures to encourage women in science, social and institutional hurdles hinder their progress

STEM

• The acronym “STEM” was coined by scientific administrators at the U.S. National Science Foundation in 2001.
• “STEM” is a curriculum based on the idea of educating students in science, technology ,engineering and mathematics.
• A robust STEM education promotes critical thinkers , problem solvers, innovators , etc.
• It is important to address the under representation  of women in STEM.

Global Scenario

• • According to the UN, less than 30 percent of researchers globally are women.

• Women are further provided with fewer research funds in comparison to their male counterparts.

• Out of 959 recipients of the Nobel prizes so far, only 61 have been women.

• Countries with a fairly good ratio in terms of an equal number of female and male researchers are: South Africa and Egypt, with 45 percent female researchers each, and Cuba, at 49 percent.

Indian Context

• According to the Department of science and technology(DST), as of 2018, women made up only 18.7 percent of the country’s researchers.
• In India, about 43 percent of women constitute the graduate population in STEM, but only 14 percent of women join academic institutions and universities. 
• Further, only 21 of the 574 recipients of the Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar awards, which honours work by researchers in science and technology,  were women. 

Systemic Social Gaps

• • While measures to promote women in stem work well in principle, systemic biases act as deterrents.

• Systemic bias, also called institutional bias is the inherent tendency of a process to support particular outcomes. The term generally refers to human systems such as institutions. Ex : Institutional biases can lead to gender inequality , racism , etc

• For instance it was observed that women in the west are not confident enough to ask for higher pay. This results in gender pay gap and unequal remuneration
• Some women give up on higher education or career due to the ingrained notion of being caregivers. 
• Lack of role models, pressures to conform to societal norms and trappings of domesticity are major obstacles.

National Initiatives

• Gender Advancement for Transforming Institutions (GATI) is a pilot project under the Department of Science and Technology to promote gender equity in science and technology. In the first phase of GATI, 30 educational and research institutes have been selected with a focus on women’s participation in leadership roles, faculty, etc

• Knowledge Involvement Research Advancement through Nurturing (KIRAN)
  was launched in 2014–15, with the aim of providing career opportunities to unemployed women scientists and technologists, especially those who had a break in their career.
• Vigyan Jyoti Scheme launched by the Department of Science & Technology (DST) , is intended to create a level-playing field for meritorious girls in high school to pursue Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) in their higher education.
• Women technology parks act as a single window hub for convergence of diversified technologies, leading to socio-economic development of women through capacity building and adoption of location-specific technologies.

Way Forward

• There is a need to create a facilitative gender-neutral culture of research in institutions and industries.
• There is an immediate need to invest in supporting infrastructure, incentivising institutions to promote gender equity, transparency in decision making etc. to bridge the persisting gender imbalance in STEM majors.
• Further, more women in STEM would improve and create a meaningful impact on society and national needs.